WUTR

WUTR is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 (virtual channel 20.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield (official address is Utica). The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 889. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, WUTR is operated through local marketing and joint sales agreements by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group. This makes it sister to Fox affiliate WFXV and low-powered MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNY-LP (all three share facilities together on Smith Hill Road). Syndicated programming on WUTR includes Steve Harvey, The Insider, Entertainment Tonight, and Inside Edition among others.

Digital channels

History

WUTR signed on for the first time on February 28, 1970, as the second television station in the market. Owned by Roy H. Park Communications at the outset, the station originally sought affiliation with CBS; this was successfully opposed by WHEN-TV (now WTVH) in Syracuse, which argued Utica-Rome was part of its market coverage area. Although WHEN cited potential revenue losses as reasoning for its actions, a rivalry between the Syracuse-based Park and then-WHEN owner Meredith Corporation may also have been a factor. As a result, WUTR joined ABC (taking that affiliation from NBC affiliate WKTV) and was the only affiliate with the network owned by Park at that time. WUTR was also the only Park TV station located outside Park's native Southern U.S. (although Park maintained his operations in Ithaca, New York, in the state's Southern Tier region).